Cynthia Dill calls out DC Democrats for not supporting her candidacy

Cynthia Dill, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, at the Liberty Festival in Lewiston on July 4.

Cynthia Dill, the Democratic candidate in Maine’s U.S. Senate race, said Thursday that her party’s silence in the state’s Senate campaign “is deafening,” and she called on the U.S. senator in charge of the Democrats’ Senate campaign efforts to get behind her candidacy.

“Votes — not personalities — will change policies to help American families,” Dill wrote in a letter sent Thursday to Patty Murray, chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in Washington, D.C. “With this historic opportunity to turn Maine’s red seat blue and ensure a progressive agenda this November, the DSCC must not abandon its principles and supporters.”

King’s campaign says he will caucus with a party if that’s what’s required in order to get a committee assignment.

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman Matt Canter said Thursday that Murray, a senator from Washington, had spoken with Dill about her letter.

“The senator told her that the DSCC would continue to monitor the race,” Canter said.

In a news release issued after her conversation with Murray, Dill called the chatter surrounding whether the Democratic committee would back her candidacy “one big distraction.” She said that by staying out of the race, the Democrats were missing a chance to support a “true middle-class campaign” that aligns closely with the Democratic agenda.

“The silence from Washington is deafening, has taken voters’ focus from the issues that families care about, and does nothing to address the concerns of the people of Maine,” Dill said. “This is Washington politics and drama once again getting in the way of progress for ordinary Americans, as Beltway insiders broker deals, hedge bets and pick winners and losers. It’s the same old song and dance, and Maine voters are tired of it.”

Thursday wasn’t the first time Dill criticized the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee since she captured her party’s Senate nomination last month in a four-way primary.

In a fundraising appeal she sent to supporters late last month, Dill wrote, “Don’t let the DSCC and other beltway insiders decide who Maine’s next United States Senator will be. We know these groups don’t share our ideals and will not fight for working families, small businesses and Maine values.”

Dill has trailed King and her Republican opponent, Secretary of State Charlie Summers, in recent polls and in campaign fundraising.